Two Little Girls...........

Good news: Tonaiya, our friend who is recovering from encephalitis, is doing well. She is learning to walk, talk, eat and function again. She was moved to the rehab floor of Seattle Children's and is improving each day. They are hopeful she might be out of the hospital by the end of the month. If you want to read the story, her webpage is: www.caringbridge.com/visit/tonaiyagray.

Sad news: A high school friend of mine I reconnected with through Facebook sent me a message a couple of weeks back asking for more information about Tonaiya because one of her family members was going through something similar. A healthy little girl, Robyn became ill the week of Aug. 3 and ended up suffering a month of seizures from what they think was viral encephalitis. Unfortunately, they were unable to stop the seizures with medications and she was in a drug induced coma for days. An MRI showed her brain has been damaged beyond life compatibility and now her parents must remove support. Such a tragedy! Two very similar stories, with two very different outcomes. You can read about Robyn's story here: www.carepages.com/carepages/robynupdate.

Which makes one ask - why? Why would this horrible thing happen to two healthy, strong, beautiful little girls? Why can't they figure out what caused this? Why can one of them recover while the other is going to die?

As a parent, I've worried about my kids being safe, healthy and sound. I've worried about all the common childhood illnesses. I've worried about them being in a car accident. I've worried about them contracting swine flu from school. But never did I think to worry that some mysterious illness would crop up without warning and forever change their lives. It's so scary to think that something like this can happen to healthy kids. I just hope and pray for Tonaiya's complete recovery and my heart pains for Robyn's family. I don't know them at all, but reading her page, you can see how scary this has been for them, and how painful it is going to be for them to put their daughter to rest.

Tonaiya

Harrison's good friend Tonaiya, 10, has been hospitalized since last Tuesday with a sudden and mysterious case of encephalitis. It's source is unknown and she went from being seemingly totally healthy to unresponsive and unconscious in a matter of hours. She went downhill quickly and suffered several seizures but improved on Thursday a bit and was a bit more responsive Friday. On Saturday she could respond with a squeeze of her hand to mean "yes". Today we visited and Harrison seemed to be a tonic to her. She smiled, giggled, got excited and made some choices by squeezing our hands to mean "yes". She still cannot walk, talk, sit up or eat. She is being tube-fed and is bedridden. It's such a scary time for her grandma, Ingrid (her guardian) and the rest of her family. Ingrid and Tonaiya live next door to Doug and that's how Harrison met her. They have been great friends for the past two years and have become really close. We took Tonaiya camping in July and she went fishing for the first time with Jeff, one morning while we all were still sleeping. They went out in the canoe and caught nine sunfish! She came back so thrilled. So, today, Jeff brought her a fishing pole of her own (pink!) and told her she needed to get better so they could go fishing again. She grabbed and held on to that pole for dear life with a big smile on her face! I had to pry it out of her fingers! We plan to visit again tomorrow and every day that we can until she's better. She needs a lot of prayers and good wishes. Such a sweet girl! It's heartbreaking to see a strong, healthy girl become so sick. You can't help but think of your own kids and realize how fragile life is. Treasure every minute...........